Kim in the Kitchen

I made my first Chicken Pot Pie with a recipe from The Pioneer Woman . Ree's blog, cookbooks and tweets have made me want to try some of her recipes. Below is the recipe that I used.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pie box pie crust (Ree made her own, I use store bought)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 cups cooked chicken
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken
splash of white wine (optional)
1 cup heavy cream (I used non fat milk)
Frozen peas (optional) - I used 1/2 can of peas
Fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add chicken and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in chicken broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)
Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. (I used a top and bottom pie crust. I followed the box instructions baking the bottom for 10 minutes before adding the mixture in and covering the pie crust with the top)
Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving


This was a great and surprisingly easy meal to make!!

Goals!

What a fast month! Here is how the goals for the month of January worked out:

1. Read 3 booksI read 5 books! Check out my book blog for reviews at Kimsbookblog614@blogspot.com
2. Make 4 meals using cook books I have home Fail! Didn't get 4 in but I tried.
3. Crochet 3 hats 4 baby hats and 2 adult hats made
4. Gym / work out twice a week Fail. We shoveled a lot of snow this month but no major work outs
5. Go to Yoga twice this month Nope. 
6. Find a curtain for the bedroom window Looks Great!!
7. Eliminate 111 items from our home- donate what we can from them YAY! This helped us de-cluttered and clean the house

Now here we go for February 2011 Goals

1. Read 3 books
2. Make 4 meatless meals
3. Keep to monthly Budget
4. Print pictures for frames around house
5. Make 2 crochet projects
6. Plan something for Mom's Birthday

Hopefully the shortest month of the year will prove to be a good one and maybe less snow!

111 for 1/11

I am proud to say that we accepted the 111 in 1/11 challenge & totally rocked it! All in all we got donated, removed, gave away, threw out or returned / exchanged over 150 items. I am so glad we participated in this challenge!

 Here are some of the areas I was dying to work on in my house. 1. The pantry 2. Cookbook area 3. Our closet. All 3 areas were over run with items we were dumping because of the lack of organization. After filling in my Husband on my goal, he was in and started to take apart closets and drawers

What a mess! 

The After shot -33 items removed and donated

Organized and eliminated clutter

The items ready for the garbage

I had over 25 headbands! I haven't worn these in years!

Donated an entire set of dishes to a family friend in need

January 2011 Goals

With not posting monthly goals since October, I think it is time to break it down monthly again. Here are some of the things that I would like to accomplish this month. Shh I know I am 6 days behind!

1. Read 3 books
2. Make 4 meals using cook books I have home
3. Crochet 3 hats
4. Gym / work out twice a week
5. Go to Yoga twice this month
6. Find a curtain for the bedroom window
7. Eliminate 111 items from our home- donate what we can from them

That's it! My Lucky 7!

2011 Goals

Well here it is, a new decade! Can't believe that I am now in my 30's and ready for new adventures. Looking back at last years goals (see the previous blog post), posting it kept me on track. With that said, here is the new goals for 2011. I hope that you also will share your goals and how you strive to keep them!

1. Go to 3 Concerts and/or take a couple day trips
2. Be more fashionable - don't just dress for comfort
3. Be a helpful, caring friend, wife, sister and family member
4. Donate my time / money to causes I believe in
5. Eat better and make healthier choices
6. Use Cookbooks on hand to create better meals
7. Be a better Blogger
8. Less Internet when home or with family (including on phone& iPad)
9. Look into college options for a BA
10. Read more - strive for 3 books a month
11. Be more organized
12. Finish 30 while 30 list
13. Lucky #13... do a 5K (yikes!)

Cheers to another great year!

2010 Goal Recap

With the end of 2010 I had a chance to recap my goals. This was a trying year for me and my family, but I made it through and can still see the positive.

 

1. Read at least 2 books a month

Read 23 books for the year. Missed the goal by 1 book!

 

2. Learn and expand my knowledge to further my career goals

More than I would have expected. With my boss on Maternity leave for 3 months I took over her job!

 

3. Learn to Knit or Crochet (make a scarf and a blanket)

Yahoo! I learned to Crochet! I made both a scarf and blanket, plus other items

 

4. Eliminate clutter around the house, make our home more organized

Done! Plus we moved and got rid of a bunch of items

 

5. Stick to my monthly budget

Fail- we had some hits to our wallets this year

 

6. Be accountable and more conscious of my daily/weekly spending

I was more accountable. If we weren't this year would have been a lot tougher between my medical bills, the dogs medical issues and our move.

 

7. Pay off my car and find a replacement

PASS! In April I purchased a new car

 

8. Contribute more to our savings for the purchase of a house

Fail. See #5

 

9. Do a 5k

Fail - due to medical issues

 

10. Make a fitness routine and stick to it (realistic goals)

The first half of the year I did well with this, so Pass for me!

 

11. Make 4 new recipes a month

Pass! I tried all sorts of new things for the year.

 

12. Make more creative meals, and cook at home more (will help us save more $$ for the house)

Pass! Loved trying new things!

 

13. Help out and donate time to my church or other charities

I am very proud of what I accomplished this year

 

14. Be a better blogger

Getting there, I have made good progress this year

 

15. Scrapbook more, document our life in creative ways

I have not scrapbooked nearly enough this year

 

16. Be a supportive, loving and helpful wife, sister, friend and family member

Pass! I love the time that I have spent with all of my family and friends

 

I may have not accomplished all my goals but I certainly made progress. I am going to continue to make goals and have plans for achievements. This is the best way I can keep my self on track. Thanks for reading along on this journey!

111 items in 1/11

I am getting in on this challenge from wordsonwendhurst.com. The goal is to look at your home and find 111 items you can get rid of. I THINK that I have enough items that are just taking up space in the house. I will take some pics and post as I go. Even if I get rid of 50 items, it will help!